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But art dealers have made thousands selling furniture from the city after buying the pieces from officials unaware of their artistic worth.

Numerous items from Chandigarh, including Le Corbusier-designed chairs from the assembly buildings, were sold in London last year after Indian diplomats failed to convince the British High Commission to block the auction.

Modernist pioneer: Le Corbusier developed several buildings and layouts in Chandigarh

A manhole cover from the city recently sold for £15,000, according to The Guardian, and art experts are desperately trying to preserve its unique design.

‘What is being lost is irreplaceable,’ said Manmohan Nath Sharma, who assisted Le Corbusier - whose real name was Charles-Édouard Jeanneret - during the city’s design.

‘Our heritage is going to be gone forever. This matter is being taken very lightly by the authorities so now we need international help.

'This is a handmade city. It is unique. It can never be replaced.’

Chandigarh was built to replace Lahore after the separation of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947, with Indian prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru commissioning the city to represent the nation’s future.

Nehru said the city, 180 miles north of Delhi, would be ‘unfettered by the traditions of the past, a symbol of the nation's faith in the future’.

American architect Albert Mayer and Polish-born designer Matthew Nowicki worked on the initial plans before Le Corbusier was brought in to design every aspect of the city, from its modernist buildings to its smallest facets such as door handles.

He was dedicated to providing better living conditions for the residents of crowded cities and his work has had lasting influence.

City officials are to sell replica artefacts at a souvenir shop in the region in a bid to curb the theft.